The Los Angeles metropolitan area is the second biggest in the country, including five different counties. There are a whopping 151 breweries in these five counties, although only 44 are in Los Angeles County proper, where the city of Torrance finds itself. Torrance has a mere 1.5 miles of coastline on the Pacific, so we understand why you might want to find some more things to do in the city itself. Here are seven breweries we’d recommend visiting in Torrance for a good beer.
Monkish Brewing Co.
Established in 2012, Monkish Brewing Co. focuses on what they call “Belgian-ish & IPA-ish beers.” Despite being a small business, they now have two locations in the Greater Los Angeles area: one in Torrance, the other in Anaheim. Both locations have their own breweries and both locations offer a tasting room/beer garden.
Open every day of the week, you can visit Monkish’s Torrance location to drink on-site or buy beer to go.
There is indoor and outdoor seating and the tasting room is both kid and dog friendly. They don’t have an in-house kitchen, but do have regularly scheduled food vendors which they list on their website so you can plan ahead.
You can also find an updated tap list on the website as well so you know what’s pouring.
Beer Recommendations:
Dark & Mild – 3.5% ABV English Dark Mild – Because how often do American breweries serve one?
Foggier Window – 8.1% Double NEIPA – Their most popular beer.
Smog City
Who better to start a brewery than a family named Porter? Husband and wife team Jonathan and Laurie started Smog City in 2014.
Since then, they have maintained a variety of brews offered on draft, in bottles, and in cans, from IPAs to sours and even barrel-aged beers.
They now have four locations, though their Torrance location is both their production brewery and taproom.
Smog City’s brewery and taproom in Torrance is almost right across the street from Monkish.
Their inside space sits you right next to their aging barrels with their stainless brew kit rising up in the back. They have an extensive outdoor space that’s used for special events and live music.
Plus, they regularly have food trucks visiting the brewery. You can check if pizza or tacos are on the menu this week by checking out Smog City’s website.
Beer Recommendations:
Friendly Conversation – 8.6% ABV Red Wine Barrel-Aged Brown & Red Ales with Stone Fruit – Does the description not convince you?
Little Bo Pils – 4.4% ABV Pilsner with Style – Light and crisp and on the opposite end of the spectrum from Friendly Conversation.
Absolution Brewing Company
Absolution likes to keep things simple – simple a ABC. Get it? They use fresh ingredients from local sources if they ever add anything more than water, hops, yeast, or grain to their beer.
They believe that brewing is about “pure pleasure, no guilt” and represent their hard work and unity through the nail in their logo.
Their taproom, however, goes beyond simplicity. They have 21 taps they pour from in their industrial taproom built right in their brewing space, warehouse garage door and all.
Each week, they have food provided by local food vendors – hotdogs, BBQ smoked sandwiches, and Philly cheesesteaks are a few of the options they have – on Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays.
They also have unusual events like Beer & Magic – a night of “amazing illusions and optical wonders” – and Thursday Night Darts.
Beer Recommendations:
Cardinal Sin – 5.7% ABV Irish Red Ale – Their most popular brew.
Absolution Governor of Taste-Ville – 6.5% ABV Hazy IPA – Clearly a tasty beer – it’s in the name!
Scholb Premium Ales
A family-owned business, Scholb Premium Ales tends to stick to West Coast traditions for their beers, though they do dabble in a few Old World styles.
Their brewery boasts a custom-made brew kit designed with sustainability and efficacy in mind. They use eight fermentors to upkeep their 20 taps at the taproom.
Their taproom is open every day of the week with both indoor and outdoor space available.
You can cozy up on one of the big, sectional sofas (presumably made with outdoor, waterproof material, we’d hope) with a direct view of that custom kit.
Sit with a group of friends and catch up over drinks or take your turn at a game of corn hole, giant Connect 4, or giant Jenga.
Beer Recommendations:
Tall Dank and Handsome – 6.8% ABV IPA – Their most popular beer.
Bee Keeper’s Daughter – 6.2% ABV Gruit – An ancient style, this is an herbal beer flavored and preserved with lavender flowers in place of hops.
Strand Brewing Co.
Strand Brewing’s claim to fame is being one of the first independent craft breweries in the L.A. area. They do so much more than beer now, as they have a distillery making vodka, gin, and whiskey, and host regular artisan markets.
Like all of their neighbors, Strand Brewing Co. has indoor and outdoor space to drink in. Plus, their space is dog friendly.
They outline any events or food served each day on their website. Sometimes the rule is Bring Your Own Food, sometimes they have food trucks that pair wonderfully with Strand’s beers.
Order full pints or taste a bunch in a beer flight. All the beers they have on tap are also available to go as cans or fresh from the tap in crowlers.
We recommend drinking in, though, for Wednesday night trivia from which they claim you can even win up to $10,000.
Beer Recommendations:
Mushashi – 7.5% ABV Cascadian Dark Ale – A roasty and malty hopped beer.
Strand Throwback Lager – 4.6% ABV Lager – A homage to traditional American lagers, brewed with flaked corn.
Burnin Daylight
Burnin Daylight was founded in 2008 by a father and son pair of homebrewers and their brew dog, Mac.
The son, Brendan, spent a few years brewing with the famous Stone Brewing before moving back home to start his very own brewery.
Its name came from Brendan’s grandfather who, after a night on the Guinness, would wake the rest of the family up, claiming they were “burnin daylight.”
Their taproom on Narbonne Avenue has indoor-outdoor space, including a cozy fire pit to keep you toasty in the cooler months.
There’s a lot to choose from thanks to their 10+ taps, but their five-beer flights give you the option to taste a bit of everything.
Citrus Slammer – 7% ABV IPA – An IPA packed with grapefruit flavor.
Sunrise Sour – 5% ABV Sour Ale – A fruity berliner weisse loaded with sour passion fruit.
Yorkshire Square
Yorkshire Square Brewery is the rare brewery in America that works to champion British beers and real ale aka cask ale.
It was founded by a British immigrant, Gary Croft, who hailed from – you guessed it – Yorkshire. Cask ales are beers that are not force carbonated and rely on gravity, or natural suction, to serve the brews through their beer lines.
Traditionally, they are much less carbonated than keg beers that Americans are used to. We wouldn’t expect any less, Yorkshire Square calls their taproom their pub.
While the space isn’t traditionally English in style, it’s the ideal space to try one of their eight hand pumps (that’s cask ales on draft).
If keg beers are more to your speed, they also have 10 taps for those.
It wouldn’t be a pub without food, either – order traditional fish & chips or chicken tikka masala!
Beer Recommendations:
Tweedy – 7.2% ABV English IPA – To compare to U.S. styles.
Tatler – 5.3% ABV Beer Cocktail – It isn’t blasphemy to add things to your beer in England. The same way we make Micheladas in the U.S., Brits will add orange juice or lemon-lime soda to top off their beer.
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